Legacies of Sacrifice

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice,^ even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, ⁷so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action;^£ discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. ¹⁴Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. ¹⁵Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; ¹⁶for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Do you find it difficult or easy to appreciate the sacrifices other have made for you? How easy is it to express appreciation for the sacrifices that have gone on before?

This is Memorial Day weekend. A weekend when an entire nation is called on to remember the soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle.

Most years, Memorial Day is simply an opportunity for people to kick off the summer season. Most years the weather isn't as it has been bad this weekend and folks plan barbecues, trips to the beach or to be with friends. Memorial day is the day when amusement parks and recreational organizations officially begin their summer programs. Most years, Memorial Day isn't nearly as prominent a day for remembering as it was first intended to be.

This year it will be difficult to forget people like, David K. Fribley, who had been working as a recreation coordinator at a retirement complex in Florida when anger over the Sept. 11 attacks helped inspire him to join the Marines, his father said and found himself serving in Iraq.
"I'm not sure what God wants me to do after this is over ... But right now, I'm sure I'm where he wants me to be," Fribley, 26, said in one letter from Iraq to his parents, who live in Atwood, Ind.

We will not have to work hard to remember folks like, Robert J. Dowdy who had followed his older brother into military service 18 years ago and was just two years from retirement.
"He was dedicated to the military," said his 40-year-old brother, Army Reserve Master Sgt. Jack Dowdy Jr. But the "biggest joy in his life" was his teenage daughter.[1]

This year we will remember many like Mark Evnin who grew up as an only child, and believed the Marines would be a challenge.
"He wanted to prove to himself that he could really meet a challenge, and he told me some time after basic training he was so proud to discover he could be really good at something, and he felt really good about himself," said his mother, Mindy Evnin.
Evnin was raised in South Burlington, Vt., and joined the Marines after graduating from high school in 2000.
"No one pushed him in that direction. It was just him," said his uncle, Greg Novak.
At the same time, he never lost his desire to help others. "He did all of this not for money but because he thought it was right," said Tim Comolli, a teacher at South Burlington High School who was described as his mentor.

Who can forget Private First Class Lori Piestewa one of the members of the Army mechanics unit that was ambushed on March 23. She like all the other soldiers I've just mentioned were killed in action in Iraq this year. Private Piestewa was the first Native American woman serving in the U.S. armed forces ever to die as a result of combat. She was 23 years old and left behind two small children, a 4-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter. She also leaves behind a broken-hearted but proud family and countless friends."[2]

If it is hard to observe Memorial Day this year, to remember those who have died in the name of our country, and in hopes of defending the nation and the families they loved, then we have wasted their sacrifices. The faces of family saddened over the loss of loved ones and of Prisoners of War who thankfully were eventually released, are too recent in our minds' eye for us to forget, on this Memorial Day.

Yet for just this reason, perhaps it is even more difficult to remember, too fresh, too painful to think of t almost two hundred young people who will never return home from their time overseas.

Memorial Day is a time to remember all the sacrifices made on our behalf by those who have given up so much to help us become who we are.

This year we mark the 90^th anniversary of this church. Perhaps it is also fitting that we begin now, not only in October at our celebratory event, to remember those who established this church and made it what it is today.

Perhaps people like Avedis Vartanian; Garabed Matoian; Mr. & Mrs. James Peters; Sarkis, Menas, Leo and Vartan Danielian; Lazarus Donabedian; Charles, Jacob and Hyganoosh Garabedian; Avedis, Mariam, Samuel, and Walter Vartanian; Mesrob and Hagop Kachadorian; Setrag, John and Myron Vartanian; Mr. & Mrs. Martin Darian; Luke, Sogam and Peter Akmakjian; Sarkis, George and Carl Garabedian; Hampartzoum Garabedian and Kachadour Avedisian, whose names adorn the beautiful stained glass windows distributed around the building should be remembered for their contributions all throughout the rest of this year. As you pass through this sanctuary and the halls of this building, notice the names remember them and give thanks. Look also to the dozens of names on the memorial plaque commemorating founding family members who have passed, as well as the 17 or so pastors who have served this church, both in the foyer just outside those double doors.

These are the people who have passed along the baton of Christian service down through the ages in this community to us. We are their heirs. As we remember all who have sacrificed on this Memorial Day weekend, let us begin to remember their names and recall all that they did to create and establish this worshipping community.

As we remember, let us not forget either, the deeper legacy of faith that has been handed down to us from even farther back in our spiritual history.

The Apostle Paul says to his friends and colleagues in Thessalonica, "You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God."[3]

Through the ages, Christians have remembered not only his legacy of sacrifice, hard work and loving care, but that of Jesus Christ as well.

In the epistle of 1 Peter, from which we just read, the author reminds the recipients of his letter the work that Jesus accomplished. "By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

On Memorial Day, we remember all the sacrifices of the soldiers of this country by marking a national holiday, by attending parades and perhaps learning of the lives of these veterans in our newspapers and other media.

On this Memorial Day, remember the lives of those who established this church, who planted it deep in to the soil of Salem, NH and whose legacy we have inherited today, by celebrating in very special ways the completion of our Ninetieth year of ministry and we pledge ourselves to continue to honor their memories and the inheritance they passed on to us.

But why and how do we remember the sacrifice and life of Jesus, whom we call the Christ, whom we call our Savior?

Because of his "great mercy." You can follow along now again in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 1 and following. We remember and honor that great mercy that we see depicted on that beautiful stained glass mural behind me, of the good shepherd, who leaves his ninety-nine sheep for a moment to chase after and save the lost 100^th.[4] We remember and honor that great mercy that we hear that rebuking his haughty and uppity disciples who jealously resent the loving, nurturing offering made by a woman of street, anointing his feet with costly oil.[5] Mercy that constantly defends the weak and challenges the mighty and the arrogant.[6]

Because of his "he has given us a new birth into a living hope," says the epistle of 1 Peter. We no longer need to be desperate, hopeless, believing and fearing that the broken world of sin and hatred that we live in is the only way. We have the example of Jesus himself and the promises he has given us of more help when we need it. In John 14:16 we hear, ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^£ to be with you forever.

Not only help but more companionship whenever we need it. In Matthew 18:20 he promises, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

We no longer need to be fearful of our eternal situation, but be assured that where Jesus is we will also be invited there. In John 14:2 we hear him say, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Because says the epistle of 1 Peter he has given us these blessings of mercy, hope, and companionship "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Because he had to die to deliver the goods to us. We remember him and give thanks because of his sacrifice, on the cross for us. Because he transformed that awful, and horrible passion experience into a resurrection miracle and offered that same miracle to each and every one of us!

Because says the epistle of 1 Peter that he leads us "into this inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for you." The Apostle Paul says, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable... this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. "[7] Through sacrifice and legacy of Jesus Christ, we are able to participate in that imperishability, that unfading inheritance and legacy.

These are only some of the reasons we remember and give thanks also to Christ this day and hopefully every day of our lives, at least according to these few words in the epistle of 1 Peter.

How do we mark and observe that Memorial? In these passages we have some suggestions for that as well.

First we simply stay faithful to that legacy that originates in God the father and is passed along to us by Jesus, the son and the Christ, our savior.

This legacy, this unfading inheritance and gift of imperishability, says the letter of 1 Peter, is "being protected by the power of God…through faith." God holds the inheritance for us all, we are all, as is all creation, invited to participate in the legacy and to share in the inheritance. The way in for us is simple faith. Simply to believe and to be faithful to what God offers. Do you believe in all that has been opened up to us today? Do you believe in the legacy and the part that Jesus plays in its distribution to all the universe? Do you accept that legacy of sacrifice and resurrection and salvation for yourself? If so, then you are an equal participant and a recipient of all the possibilities and blessings of God's merciful bounty.

To be holy in the days of Jesus meant to be set apart, cleansed and prepared, ready to be used for the work of God, like an altar piece in the temple of God. Like a beautiful communion chalice. Like an unblemished lamb, ready for sacrifice.

We no longer consecrate things, like scepters for priests to hold over people's heads or candelabras or even buildings, praying over them and blessing them and believing that in so doing now they are something special and magical and mystical. But we do clean and prepare such things, sharpen our instruments, put in order all the tools of ministry for the work of God.

We act similarly toward those who have prepared for serving God in his kingdom. We do consecrate and pray for and sometimes ordain and sometimes anoint individuals who wish to follow in the footsteps of our God. This is what we did last week when we invited seven new members into the life and ministry of our church. Each of us can participate in such a holy calling, whether members of this church or another. Whether we are pastors, teachers, musicians, accountants, builders, deacons, healers, helpers, encouragers or any other gifted and special people. Each of us have our own particular gifts, and we can hone those gifts, nurture them, sharpen them and offer them up as our own holy sacrifice to God.

On Memorial Day, we remember those who have sacrificed and given so much to us, whether they be soldiers of our nation, ancestors in our faith, or Christ himself, who calls us to faith and to holiness.

Enjoy the day. Despite the weather, enjoy the holiday tomorrow. But also remember and memorialize the spectacular gifts that have fallen so graciously into your lives.

[1] http://www.argusleader.com/ustroops/04272003.shtml

[2]Tom Dashell, press release, April 7, 2003 http://daschle.senate.gov/~daschle/pressroom/releases/03/04/2003408337.html

[3] 1 Thessalonians 2:9

[4] Matthew 18:10

[5] Luke 7:36

[6] Matthew 23:27, 29; Matthew 25:30-46

[7] 1 Corinthians 15:50,53

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